Becky (Culp) Springman was a thrower on the Hamline track and field team during the 2010-13 seasons. During her time as a Piper, Springman earned five All-America honors, including winning a National Championship in the discus in 2013. She would graduate that same spring with a degree in Physics.
 
After Hamline, Springman went on to earn her Masters in Electrical Engineering and now works at Medtronic as a Software Engineer. In her role, she is responsible for testing MyCareLink Patient monitors that link to Medtronic heart devices, such as defibrillators and pacemakers. She is married to her former track teammate, Blake Springman, and they have one child named Isaac.
 
Throughout Springman's career, she collected 12 All-Conference honors, including winning six MIAC titles. She won her first MIAC Championship in the indoor shot put in 2012, setting a new facility record at the Leonard Center with a throw of 13.00m. Later in that outdoor season she added MIAC titles in the shot put and discus. During her senior season, she would defend her status in all three of those events, including setting a new meet record at the outdoor championships in the shot put with a distance of 14.58m. This mark also set a new Hamline school record in the outdoor shot put, which remains intact to this day.
 
Springman also holds the HU school record in the discus with a distance of 47.11m, while ranking second in school history in the indoor shot put (14.41m) and sixth in the weight throw (16.47m).
 
In 2010, her rookie season, Springman earned her first All-American honor, placing sixth in the discus at the NCAA Championship meet. In 2012, she added her second All-American honor in that event, finishing in third. During her senior season, she earned three All-American honors, placing fifth in both the indoor and outdoor shot put, and becoming Hamline's first national champion in women's track in field since 2000, with a win in the discus.
 
In 2012, Springman earned her first Outstanding Women's Field Athlete award, as voted on by MIAC coaches. She would earn the honor twice more, in both the 2013 indoor and outdoor seasons. After the 2013 MIAC Outdoor Championships, Springman was also recognized with the Women's Outstanding Performance of the Meet award.
 
In addition to all her athletic accomplishments, Springman had a decorated academic career as well. She was named to both the CoSIDA Capital One and USTFCCCA Academic All-America Teams and was named to the MIAC All-Academic Team on multiple occasions.
 
Since graduating, Springman has found a passion for coaching at the collegiate level, which she has done for the past seven years. She coached five years at Hamline and now coaches at the University of St. Thomas.
 
Take a look at what Springman had to say about her time at Hamline. 
 
How did your Hamline experience prepare you for what you are doing now?
During my time at Hamline, I was offered countless opportunities to acquire relevant knowledge and apply what I had learned and experienced to my life as a student-athlete and a working professional. My professors helped teach me in ways that would eventually be relevant in my career, and my throws coach, Drew Jones, helped guide me both inside and outside the throwing ring. Through my time as a student-athlete at Hamline, I recognized that increased focus, hard work, and dedication helped prepare me to be the best competitor I could be. Essentially, whatever amount of effort you put into something is what you'll get out of it. These concepts have translated into not only my profession, but also my family life. Overall, I experienced periods of failure, and through this I learned that failure does not define who you are, but rather, how you bounce back.
 
Who was one of your favorite professors at Hamline?
I really loved a lot of my professors at Hamline, especially Jerry Artz.
 
What is one of your favorite memories as a student-athlete?
One of my favorite memories as a student-athlete was lifting in "the chute" with my teammates and coach Drew Jones. During these times, my coach and my teammates pushed me to be the best athlete and person I could be. I also made some of my closest friends during this time. There's something about trying to power clean hundreds of pounds that brings people together!
 
What advice would you give to current student-athletes?
The advice I would give to current Hamline student-athletes is to not be afraid of failure, but instead, embrace it as an opportunity for learning, motivation, and growth. During my sophomore year, I competed poorly at the NCAA Outdoor National Meet and did not meet the expectations that my coach and I had for myself going into the meet. It was a hard lesson to learn, but without it I wouldn't have eventually become a National Champion or have grown to become the person I am today. You are going to have failures in life. Some will be larger than others, but it is what you learn from it and how you recover that defines you. Each failure offers an important lesson, and how you approach it can help you become a better person. Trust the process.